The best pocket-passer ever to play the game. An unparalleled leader. Absolutely fearless. One of the smartest QBs of his generation. Unrivalled in career value and the ability to play at an elite level well into his 40s. And a mountain of records, some of which may never be broken. Undoubtedly, among the very best at his position to ever play the game.
But let’s not kid ourselves. Brady did not win 7 SBs. His teams did. And that means teams with great defenses. By way of illustration, consider that in 324 of Brady’s career starts with New England, the Patriots defense never gave up more than 44 points in any game. Ever. It happened to Aaron Rodgers’ Packers 3x in 10 playoff losses, while in 5 of those losses the Packers D gave up 37+ points. By comparison, the Pats D gave up 37+ points only 8x during Brady’s entire 324-game career with the team.
During the Brady era, the Patriots defense was in the top ten “fewest points allowed” in 17 of 19 seasons. (Re-read last sentence.) A cursory review shows no other team even remotely close to that combination of sustained defensive dominance and HOF QB performance. In years Brady received a SB ring, his team’s defenses were ranked #6, 1, 2, 8, 1, 7, and 8. Comparisons with other teams featuring generational QB talents (Marino’s Dolphins; Brees’ Saints; Rivers’ Chargers;’ Roethlisberger’s’ Steelers; Manning’s Colts; Rodgers’ Packers; etc.) confirm the invariable relationship between good defense and post-season success. Anecdotal evidence (a dubious but entertaining source) shows that relatively average QB play coupled with superior defenses prevails over superior offenses harnessed to porous defense.
Bottom line: SB wins are so closely correlated with strong defenses as to almost rise to the level of a law of nature.
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